Weight Gain Linked to Food Packaging with Plasticizers

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A new study suggested that food packaging containing plasticizers might lead to weight gain.

The content of the food we take is important but so is their packaging. A new study from Germany found out that plastic containers containing plasticizers where foods are sold, cooked and stored might influence one's weight gain, IdahoStateJournal has learned.

The team from the University of Leipzig and the University Hospital Leipzig learned that chemical di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) can lead to hormone imbalance in female mice, which triggered weight gain, even if exposure to the said chemical is in low concentrations, Medical News Today reported.

Per Packaging Europe, phthalates are used as plasticizers in polymer processing to make plastics soft, flexible or tensile. In some instances, this chemical can also emerge from the material, absorbed in the food and be uptaken into one's body. Phthalates are mainly transferred from food packaging of fatty products like cheese or sausages.

"We currently know very little about how exactly phthalates have an effect within the body and how they can influence body weight - we intended to evaluate this in our study," said Von Bergen.

The researchers exposed mice to DEHP. They tried various concentrations of the chemical to the subject's drinking water for 10 weeks and examined its influence to the mice's weight gain by comparing it to those who were not exposed to DEHP.

Both groups of mice consumed standard food over the 10-week period.

The team learned that female mice exposed to DEHP gained a significant amount of weight than their counterparts who were not exposed to the same chemical. The weight gain was also visible among mice that were exposed in low concentrations of DEHP. However, the same findings do not apply to exposed male mice.

"It is evident that phthalates seriously interfere with the hormone balance. They give rise to significant changes, e.g. weight gain, even in low concentrations," Bergen concluded.

The researchers found out that there was an increase in expression of estrogen receptors and a reduction in expression of Pparg receptors in adipose tissue, which they suggested could contribute in metabolism and weight gain.

Bergen noted that some metabolic changes mediated by activity in adipose tissue could also influence the functions in other organs. However, he added that "there is no conclusive clarification of how the various effects of phthalates on metabolism influence each other and ultimately lead to weight gain."

Bergen and his team are planning to further their investigation to answer their concern.

The results of the study are published in the journal PLOS One.